So tomorrow is Shakespeare Day, remember? Have you prepared your arsenal of tried and tested activities yet? Or has the Bard become totally irrelevant? I’ve recently had an amazing podcast experience taking part in the British Council podcast on the impact of AI on language teaching and learning. One of the questions was on whether AI would make language teaching and learning irrelevant. And it got me thinking: what makes something truly relevant? Relevance isn’t static; it’s shaped by our perspectives and motivations. For some, language is merely a tool for manipulation, while for others, i ..read more

Looking for ways to support your neurodivergent learners? In my recent opinion article, Opportunity or Remix, to Larry Ferlazzo’s How To Use AI Tools to Support English-Language Learners, featured in Education Week, I outlined a few use cases of GenAI that can support language learners in impactful ways.  In this post, I’d like to expand on that list of potentially impactful applications by highlighting the potential of GenAI-powered tools to offer more personalised instruction and support for neurodivergent learners. Teaching neurodivergent learners means tailoring your approach to ..read more

Ready for a pronunciation challenge? As I am closing down My English Domain website for learners, and moving my ELTCATION blog to its own domain, I am moving some posts here to make them available for teachers. The modules and apps from the website will be featured in the Learning Design Projects. Additionally, I’ll be making a series of posts describing some collaboration projects to provide proper references and links, along with additional resources that may come in handy. The links to ELTCATION posts and pages appear to be functioning correctly; in case of any issues, just take out ‘myen ..read more

How do you structure small group discussions to ensure full student engagement? ‘Wise men speak when they have something to say. Fools speak because they have to say something.’ — Plato 'Reluctant speakers try to avoid speaking both when they have something to say and have to say something.' Every Classroom Teacher If you’re working with small and medium-sized teams but haven’t yet experimented with Nomination Cards, this post may come in handy. The Nomination Cards activity, designed by Tekhnologic, is one of the most efficient ways to structure discussions within small groups and en ..read more

Where do you find role-plays for your students, and what are your sources of inspiration? If you’re seeking fresh and engaging role-plays to add to your teaching repertoire or looking to jazz up the ones you already have, here’s an interesting tool for you to try. I’ve created this Role-Play Generator as a brainstorming tool to help language teachers come up with more ideas for role-plays suitable for learners in class. It’s easy to use – simply fill in the main details such as Learning Objectives, Topic, Number of participants in the role-play, and the Level of students’ language proficienc ..read more

I’ve been exploring the world of chatbots and tinkering with AI-powered chatbots for language learners for some time now. The first chatbot I made was designed as a Language Teacher Assistant, tasked with providing feedback to learners and transforming the checking process into a learning experience. It was incorporated into the Question Charts. I’ve also built a few chatbots to assist teachers in generating assessment rubrics, role-play scenarios, and project ideas (though they’re still in the process of fine-tuning; alas, time is a scarce resource). In this post, however, I’ll be focusing ..read more

How do you bring ‘overlearning’ to your learners? I have just completed my project, which I hope will serve as both a scaffold and an overlearning tool. While the holiday hustle may have stretched out the timeline a bit, I have now pieced together, tested, and fine-tuned a demo version of the interactive Sentence Patterning Chart. Overlearning If you are not familiar with the concept of overlearning, I recommend watching a great webinar on overlearning with Jake Whiddon. He offers a comprehensive perspective on this essential, though often undervalued, component of learning, especially in ..read more

Have you tried running your assessment assignments with AI? How did it go? If it failed, well done – you can stick to your ‘tried-and-tested’ methods (did you try setting the temperature to ‘0’? Just asking!)). If it didn’t, then it signals the need for some consideration. Consider whether the assignment remains relevant and reliable, or if it’s compromised. You might need to ponder how to tweak it to strengthen its ‘human touch’ component and make it more personalised and contextualised (though, let’s face it, this won’t make your assignment 100% AI-proof – nothing can). Alternatively, you ..read more

It’s that time of the year again – the time to prepare and engage in festive activities, and extend warm wishes for a joyous Holiday season. This year, I’ve planned a Christmas idioms scavenger hunt. I’ve already shared an online demo game for remote classes and thought it would be a good idea to provide the steps and resources for adapting the game to play in an offline environment. While creating a scavenger hunt activity can be time-consuming, there are a few shortcuts that may help you save precious time and prepare a festive adventure for your students. Check out a quick summary of the ..read more

Teaching tips for better responses, or Sometimes silence is a really good answer, said no language teacher ever. How do you ensure that your students are giving their best responses? I’ve recently added a really effective strategy to enhance students’ answers to my toolkit. I came across this approach in the context of machine learning and prompt engineering, yet I find it extremely valuable for my students. I thought it would be worthwhile to share it on the blog [#bloggingisnotdead…well, not yet], along with other strategies to facilitate better student responses.  I believe that in ..read more